Commercial agricultural and industrial vehicles, particularly farm tractors, are typically equipped with hydraulic connecting couplings, hereinafter hydraulic couplings, so that external hydraulic motors and/or hydraulic cylinders can be connected and run by means of the hydraulic system of the vehicle. According to ISO 7241-1, typically about 5 ccm of hydraulic fluid or hydraulic oil, hereinafter leaking fluid, escapes during quick-release coupling in current hydraulic couplings.
Accordingly, such hydraulic couplings, often formed as hydraulic quick couplings, must be protected from moisture and soiling. It is known in the art for this purpose to provide for each hydraulic quick-release connector a dust housing hereinafter a housing structure, by means of which the leaking oil is caught and collected through a hose into a collecting container. This type of dust housing is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,977 and typically comprises for each hydraulic coupling a sealable opening through which a counterpart to a hydraulic coupling can be inserted to finally create a hydraulic connection between the vehicle and a hydraulic user.
Currently, two hydraulic couplings are typically provided for a hydraulic user, one through which a hydraulic fluid is conveyed from the vehicle to the user, and a second hydraulic coupling through which the hydraulic fluid is returned to the vehicle. These two hydraulic couplings are usually disposed one above the other on a vehicle or tool and surrounded at least in part by a mutual dust housing or otherwise protected from soiling. In this case, the leaking fluid escaping from the top hydraulic coupling is conducted through a connecting line to the dust housing in such a manner that the lower hydraulic coupling is wetted by the leaking fluid and/or can escape from the lower opening of the dust housing. Despite sealing elements for the openings, this leads to extensive soiling of the hydraulic couplings in the dust housing and of the dust housing by the adhering dust, particularly in agricultural applications. Dirty hydraulic couplings in the coupled state can lead to leaks, which in the worst case can cause the failure of the tool and in the loss of a considerable amount of hydraulic fluid.
Accordingly, there is a clear need in the art for the provision and improvement of a housing structure of the aforementioned type by means of which the aforementioned problems are overcome.